G.E. net income down 19% in fourth quarter

General Electric’s fourth-quarter net income fell 19 percent, but the industrial bellwether is seeing signs of stability as it moves into a key rebuilding year.

GE, one of the world’s largest companies, said that orders improved late in the year in its businesses that supply equipment like turbines for power plants and sonogram machines for hospitals. Its profit decline was smaller than previous quarters even though the company’s big lending unit still weighed on earnings.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DNA forensic kit cleared for use with FBI-run index

A forensic kit from a subsidiary of Carlsbad-based Life Technologies received clearance for use with a national DNA index run by the FBI.

The company said the approval means that the MiniFiler kit from its Applied Biosystems unit will be more widely used in forensic labs, with data then uploaded into the FBI database.

The kit, launched in 2007, is designed to increase the ability to obtain DNA results from samples that previously would have yielded little or no genetic data.

THOMAS KUPPER

Hershey likely out of running for Cadbury; Kraft has lead

Candy maker Hershey says it has no immediate plans to make an offer for British competitor Cadbury, making it all but certain that Kraft Foods’ $19.5 billion bid will proceed without competition.

Hershey did leave room for reconsideration, however. The company says it is reserving the right to bid or participate in a Cadbury offer within six months, but a number of conditions must be met.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Google co-founders to sell 10 million total stock shares

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are relinquishing some of their control over the Internet search leader with the sale of 10 million shares worth $5.5 billion at current prices.

The longtime business partners will each sell 5 million Google shares during a five-year period. Page and Brin, both 36, will still own a special class of Google stock that gives them combined voting power of about 48 percent.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

CareFusion gives $3.1 million in equipment to Haiti effort

The San Diego medical device maker CareFusion said it is donating $3.1 million worth of equipment and other materials to the humanitarian effort in Haiti.

The company said it is sending 100 of its ventilators and 200 infusion pumps. Additionally, the company said it has purchased and will donate 100,000 bottles of silver dihydrogen citrate, a water purification product.

CareFusion said the silver dihydrogen citrate solution was developed by El Cajon-based Pure Biosciences.